Habitual winners won't be overawed in Championship

BLUES followed up 50 cautious minutes with 50 breathless ones against Blackburn, which included two stoppage-time goals and a comeback win for the ages.

- By BRIAN DICK

Trailing to a strike from Todd Cantwell, Blues looked set to lose at Ewood Park yet again, only for Jay Stansfield and Lyndon Dykes to upset the apple-cart and register their first win since returning to the Championship.

At first it was a tight, risk-averse affair - certainly from Rovers’ point of view - before the match exploded into life and the most dramatic of climaxes that 7,000 Blues fans won’t forget. Here’s what stood out.

Back with a bang

The last time Blues went to Ewood Park, with Wayne Rooney in charge, they lost 4-2.

While Rooney went on to ‘take responsibility’ for the paucity of Rovers’ goals he was quick to add ‘we as defenders, goalkeeper and midfielders need to get better. We can’t allow teams to score goals like that.

One player remains from that starting XI in November 2023 - Stansfield - and while Rovers’ goal on Saturday was poor even by the standards of Rooney's terrible team, that’s where the similarity ends.

Chris Davies’ Blues are a very different prospect. With the twin towers of Christoph Klarer and Phil Neumann at the back and the combination of Paik Seung-ho and Tomoki Iwata in the middle, they are a stable, organised and resolute team.